CBRT keeps interest rates unchanged for the seventh time in a row

Turkey’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for the seventh time in a row, despite Turkey’s inflation and its currency falling against the dollar to its lowest level since December.

The Turkish Central Bank fixed the interest rate on the Turkish lira during the “repo” week of July at 14%, and also kept the overnight borrowing rate at 12.5%, and the overnight lending rate at 15.5%.

The Turkish lira fell to its weakest level since a major currency crisis in December, as a strong dollar and concerns about rising domestic inflation and low-interest rates weighed on it.

The lira has fallen about 25% this year, after falling 44% in 2021, to become one of the worst performing currencies in emerging markets.

Unconventional interest rate cuts late last year triggered a crisis that pushed inflation up to nearly 80%.